| Skyledge home | Star hop to |
List of star hops |
| Gamma Leonis, or Algieba, is a well known double star in the "sickle" portion of the constellation Leo. The brighter star appears orange or reddish, and the dimmer companion is yellow. The two stars are only 4.7 arcseconds apart, so fairly high magnification will help to separate the pair. They are about 130 light years away. |
 |
||
| Evening visibility: | February-June | ||
| Best viewed with: | telescope | ||
| Printable chart (pdf) | |||
| Directions: Start by finding the Spring Triangle, which consists of three widely-separated first magnitude stars--Arcturus, Spica, and Regulus. The Spring Triangle is high in the southeast sky in early spring, and in the southwest sky by mid-Summer. (To get oriented, you can use the handle of the Big Dipper and "follow the arc to Arcturus"). For this star hop, begin at Regulus in the constellation Leo, the lion. |
|||
 |
|||
| The constellation Leo looks like a lion in profile, with its head to the west and its tail to the east. After finding Regulus, look north for a star that begins the "sickle" shape of Leo's neck and head, then look northeast to reach bright Algieba. | |||
 |
|||
| Star charts created with Cartes du Ciel | |||